Shatter
by Fraye
Summary: In a world of your own, where you've been left to nothing but your own thoughts and your own horrors, would you yourself not turn to madness in your final hour?


I sigh a bit as I lower my Arwing to the ground, shaking a bit wearily as the hollow surface of Venom threatened to cave in. I glanced around, taking quick note of the picture of my former teammates. Falco's smug grin, Peppy's knowing look, and Slippy's smile, they all were haunting me… I didn't have any pictures left of Krystal though. My mouth curved a bit, sinking to a frown as an image of the vixen's blue fur was conjured in my mind. That was the first… and the last mistake I'd ever make.

The pressure in my Arwing started to release, the canopy lifting up as the faux-air released itself in the form of a steam. The sudden intrusion of stale air, a trait very unique to Venom, to my inhalations was a bad reaction, and I let out a few loud coughs, sputtering a bit as I lowered myself to the ground. The soil was surprisingly warm compared to the air, molding around my boots rapidly. I stepped away, eyes widening as I saw small cracks where my feet had been, and in a mere moment, the soil gave way to the black abyss below.

Venom obviously had no intention of being warm today, made obvious by the sudden chill that blasted into me, my arms wrapping around my torso, hands tucked into my underarms as I shivered. I glanced around, trying to think of where to start, but I was forced to jump away as the ground caved in, my Arwing lodged pointed into the ground a bit. The ground started to crack, the Arwing sinking even more as it vanished into the depths of Venom. I turned, walking away cautiously as I avoided causing any more damage, offhandedly wondering what I'd do when I was done with this mission.

I glanced back at the gaping hole, my head hanging low as I increased my pace, walking rapidly into the horizon. Time seemed to last forever and ever, my only company being the pale shadow behind me. I glanced up periodically, seeing an almost exact replica of the scenery that I'd seen just moments before, each time only leading to a louder and louder sigh. After fifteen minutes, I slowed my pace as I realized I was walking up to a large building in the barren wasteland.

This metal structure, made of shades of grey and maroon, seemed hauntingly familiar. My eyes drifted up a bit, catching a white logo, a logo of Star Wolf. Curious thing is… this building was a run-down and looked to be abandoned. My hands came to the center of the once automatic door, pulling at it with excessive force to try and split the widening line. As the two lines broke apart, I watched the rust fall to the ground as a consuming darkness was pushed back by the ever faint light of Venom.

My eyes shifted back to the direction I'd came from, daring to look away from the foreboding sight of the eternal black I'd be entering in just a few short moments, and with a deep breath, I took a single step in. I pulled from my belt a compact flashlight, turning it on as my hands shook; its beam danced around the room, but to no avail, the light being far too dim to fight back the darkness. The flashlight went back to my belt, my hand returning with a scanner. It shone brightly, my eyes averting for a few moments as they adjusted to the sudden blue light. The scanner returned with results of a layout of the building, and I followed its map through the halls.

I needed to find a generator or something of the sorts to give this place some light; I couldn't just rely on a pocket-sized flashlight to get through this. I came to a hallway, the blue screen hinting me to go into the room just a few steps into the hall, a strange box like figure showing up on the map. The complex was far too small for it to be anything but a generator.

I walked down the hallway, turning into the room, seemingly even darker than the rest of the complex. I stepped forwards, each step cautious as the blue light filled the air immediately around me. Small sob-like noises came from the corner of the room, and I stopped, taking steps backwards out of the room as surprise struck me. I'd never expected anyone else to be here. It was only a few seconds later that the lights came on, and I saw the figure of a man, completely hidden by a cloak and hood, his face turned from me. Grey, grizzled fur adorned the single hand visible to me from my position.

"Have you come back to kill me too?" he questioned. I glanced backwards, almost reflexively, as I noticed the body of Panther leaned against the wall, his jaw broken and his throat slashed. Leon was nearby, hung from the ceiling by his amputated tail. There were plenty more bodies filling the rooms I hadn't gone anywhere near, bodies of dogs, sharks, and alligators. I shuddered a bit, turning back to see he had turned his head towards me, darkness shrouding his face as a small portion of his muzzle poked from his hood, grey and unkempt.

"What… what happened here?" I questioned, shivering a bit as I had suddenly recognized the stench of decay in the air. I pressed forwards into the room, wishing to be away from the death but too terrified to walk back through it. I'd seen… seen so many deaths before, but this, this was massacre. As I found myself looking away from the bodies, I realized he'd taken his hood off, the image of a broken man before me. Wolf O' Donnell, disheveled as I'd never seen him before, was crying. Tears ran down his face, matting down the dirty fur as he avoided eye contact with me, scratches decorating his face along with the addition of many new scars.

"It's you, I didn't expect… I was expecting someone else," he said, sobbing a bit as he rubbed away the tears, "My empire is gone, anything I'd ever had in my life… it's gone. I've lost my entire world to Dash, and he has every intention of continuing his conquest. Andross is dead, but his world, this -nightmare of a world- will always have his signature because of his god-forsaken son," he said, almost every word turned bitter as he tried to fight back the sobs. I almost had to wonder why he was so direct with me, after all the fights we'd had in the past… but, he's suffered. Maybe I'm all he's got at this point… My hand loosened its grip on the scanner, dropping the glass and metal object to the ground violently, shattering on impact. It was only a matter of time before I began to take weak steps forwards, wanting to comfort him.

He stepped away, turning away from me once more. I paused, only to continue my pace. It took almost a full minute, a painful minute of silence, before I had finally reached him, placing my hand on his shoulder. He turned towards me, his muzzle dangerously close to mine. I pulled back a bit in surprise as I looked at him head on, realizing how red and puffy his eyes were. "I'm sorry Wolf," I whisper, staring at him for a few moments. My hand naturally fell to his wrist, stroking a bit, but he pulled away a few moments later.

"I wasn't sure which would happen first, Dash to kill me, or Venom to kill me. I… I have to assume that Venom will collapse. By the calculations Le-… we have, this base has all of ten minutes before it sinks," he said frowning as he turned back to me, staring at me sadly. "I'm sorry that you came here Fox, but Venom is collapsing, and in a day or so, the entire planet will be gone. We have no methods of escape, Dash left us nothing," he said, and fear struck me as I realized that the mission- was my last. There were no outposts anywhere near Venom that could get me before then, and even if I left the station I'd die. Should I… Should I die now, or die alone?

"How has this building lasted here for as long as it has?" I questioned, glancing around at what seemed to just be kilograms upon kilograms of metal surrounding me. If my Arwing caved in, shouldn't this have as well? I gingerly lift my foot, lowering it roughly to the floor below. The sound resulting from this stomp was that of hollow metal, and it only proved me point. This outpost was defying the laws of physics by staying on a surface that could hardly support me.

"The entire station is magnetized in a way, not that it attracts metals like those in your boots or your weapons, but that it rests on a single point. There's a rafter in the upper level that's synchronized to the opposite polarity, and they hold each other up," he said, each word hitting me strangely. It sounded almost like a speech he'd been versed on a thousand times… except… except, those last few words sounded too genuine to have simply been a part of it. But, that doesn't make sense… does it? Does it?

My hand came to rest on his shoulder, "Then how is the station falling apart now?" I asked, genuinely wishing his answer meant it was fixable. I stared into his violet eyes for a few seconds, searching for something at this point to understand what he meant. At this rate, we'd be lucky if we had five minutes, so much time had passed in those awkward silences. I don't like the silence though, it's just a reminder of what's happening, and… it let's me think, and my thoughts aren't exactly pleasant.

"The station was set to only be magnetized for a certain amount of time, so it'd simply vanish into Venom once we were done with it. We were supposed to be done by now, but… but…" he cut off into a choked sob, my hand thrust awkwardly into the air as he shot at me, his arms wrapping around me in a tight hug. My one hand wriggled free of the confines of his hug, my arms wrapping around the broad chest of the other male. Each hand gently ran up and down the length of his back, trying to soothe him.

He continued, despite the fact I hadn't responded, venting each sob and word into my chest, "I accepted death as a part of my career for so long, but… I didn't expect to see it coming. I don't want to die like this Fox, I don't want to die with nothing noteworthy of my life to be said. No one's ever loved me, I'm a villain Fox," he said, breaking off into a sob-filled laughter, "I wanted to die a warrior's death, but I'm nothing but a fucking coward. He made me watch… he made me watch him kill all of my comrades, all of my squadrons. Each death was bloodier than the last… and I can't shake it Fox."

I stared down at him, biting my lip as I tried to wrap my mind around it. He was sputtering, looking for the next thing to rant on, lifted away momentarily while he gazed away from me. I did the one thing I knew how, leaning down and giving the other male a soft, short kiss on the lips as the last way to console him. I didn't… didn't love Wolf, but- but, maybe he could at least die… happy? I broke the kiss away, staring at the now shocked male. I forced the words from my mouth, genuine albeit hard to say, "I… love you."

He leaned in, pressing another kiss to my lips, exploring my lips with his own previously untouched ones. They were chapped; the faint taste of blood coming from a cut nearby, and his teeth occasionally grazed my lips. His tongue pressed forwards, invading my mouth for even just a mere few moments before it broke away. This time, I was left speechless… I didn't know what to say or do. Tears were running from the other male's eyes, but I didn't know how to react. A hand reflexively went up, rubbing them away.

Our moment, mostly his, of happiness was cut short as the ground beneath the outpost gave way, the sudden feeling of falling hitting as both of our bodies were lifted slightly. I stared at him, no words left except the feeble, "I love you." The words were easier to say this time as I stared at him, oxygen becoming harder and harder to get as the toxic gases from Venom's core seeped in.

He nodded, "I love you too," escaping his lips as everything started to become misty. The colors started to blend together, my body falling to the floor as my immune system began to fight at the toxic gases. I choked on the stale, killer air, black seeping into my vision. The sound of Wolf hitting the floor as well was sad, but as darkness crept in, I was glad that the last conscious image I had was of his eyes.

Darkness began to consume my thoughts, each more groggy than the last as nonsense began to take control. As my heart stopped beating, and I was left suspended there for just a few moments, still aware of what was happening; I had to wonder what would happen after this. Wolf's presence was near me, stronger than before, and for just those few moments, I felt safe in death.


End file.
